We woke up to our last morning on the train, in a brand new country and with a complete change of scenery. Overnight the desert had been replaced by mountains, and as we passed through the Chinese mountain-side tunnels catching glimpses of The Great Wall we had time to reflect on the long journey we had made, and just how far we had come. Eventually the train rolled into the grey smoggy metropolis of Beijing mid-afternoon,and it was time for the final stage of our adventure to begin.
After tiny Ulaan Baatar and the wide open spaces of Mongolia, the crush of people pushing around us trying to get out of the rail station was somewhat overwhelming, and when we emerged into the bright daylight it was to a big big city, and a far cry from the sedate Scandinavian cities we started in two months ago. Buses, bicycles, and cars competed for space with people and the neon signs were both familar and completely foriegn - the universal symbol for McDonalds juxtaposed against chinese characters against the grey sky and a humidity that was thick enough to eat. After our new tour guide briefly introduced himself and the city it was all we could do to walk the 100 metres to the hostel where it was time to shower and get ready for our first experience of China.
We met in the lobby feeling clean and cool - but were assaulted by the heat as soon as we stepped outside. We immediately regretted the sun screen we had applied as it became a sticky residue coating our arms. Motivated by the serious lack of time we would have to unlock the secrets of such a formidable place (just 2 and a bit days) and the ache in our stomachs crying out for a taste of peking duck (after talking about it for 29 hours on a hot train eating 2minute noodles) we made our way through the throb of people in the park to a restaurant that was promised to live up to expectations.
We were ever so grateful to our guide for his no nonsense approach to ordering our banquet. A stream of gibber talk uncomprehensible to our tired english trained ears passed between himself and a few waiters around us and immediately cold beers were delivered followed very quickly by a seemingly endless array of dishes. We engulfed the meal as fast as our chopsticks would allow for pausing only briefly to stare in wonder as the duck was wheeled out on a silver platter and carved before our very eyes. After a short demonstration on how to dip the duck into soya sauce and roll it with cucumber and sprouts on soft lavish bread our plates were licked clean and washed the food washed down with fresh watermelon.
We could have sat in the restaurant happily satisfied and content not to move for an eternity but our guide would have nothing of it. He cracked his whip and had us moving faster than we had ever done so as a group before. We rushed through the streets till we hit stalls selling Beijing paraphenalia and before we could glance towards the new shopping opportunites appearing out of the darkness we were shunted along to a theatre. The legendary kungfu monk show was about to begin and we had the best seats in the house. Honestly we were front row and centre and glued to the edge of our seats for the entire performance, except when we were forced to sit back only because the performers were walking amonst us.
The story line boasted morals of discipline, determination and strength succeeding over fear and temptation to lead to enlightenment. The medium was young children doing head flips, strong men breaking steel and concrete slabs over their heads. Chains were flailed at lightning speeds and one monk bounced over his chain as easily as a girl with a skipping rope. Of course the plot thickened with billowing smoke, bubbles, ribbons from the heavens and a couple in love but quickly the monks were straight back into sword fighting, knocking on their wooden blocs and summoning strength from the elements through tai chi. It was the most powerful production to watch and the unbelievable performances by every little boy and man sent waves of emotion through the crowd.
The buzz in the group on the walk back through the park, dogging walkers, dancers, buskers and tai chi meditators was all over every aspect of the show. The music, the choreography, the historical significant, the determination; the brillance of it all had us all falling in love with Beijing after seeing almost nothing of the city at all. After dispersing through the wacky and wonderful selection of products in the supermarket (instant hot milk, dried kiwi fruit and endless choice of jelly cups) we met again in the hostel bar to continue to wonder about the possibility of being as empowered as the monks (we didn't try any stunts of our own however as the subtitles clearly informed us the the guys were professionals). We gave up the talking only to rest for the biggest event of the tour so far that would take place early in the morning. 6am departure straight to The Great Wall of China!
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